A New Paper on Diabetes & Respiratory Viral Infections

New data published in Cell Metabolism reveals why high blood sugar increases susceptibility to respiratory viral infections, including 'he who must not be named.'

For some, the take-away from this letter will be as obvious as “water is wet.” Nevertheless, I find these data worth sharing for two reasons:

1. I’m a nerd who likes physiological mechanisms, and I know many of you are the same.

2. Despite what may appear obvious, social norms persist that perpetuate the poor metabolic health of our population, making us vulnerable to chronic disease as well as viral pandemics.

A New Paper on Diabetes & Viral Infections

Days ago, a paper was just published in Cell Metabolism that identifies a mechanism whereby persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and uncontrolled blood sugar are more susceptible to infection by certain respiratory viruses, including “he who must not be named.”

For context, it’s already well known that poorly controlled T2D increase morbidity and mortality from respiratory viral infections. But how, exactly, high blood sugars can impair immune system function remains somewhat of a mystery.

These findings shed new light on that mystery.

To cut to the chance, the researchers discovered that:

• Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) cause mitochondrial dysfunction.

• Unhealthy mitochondria increase production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress.

• This leads to the oxidation of fragile lipids (fats), a process called Lipid Peroxidation (LPO).

• LPO, in turn, leads to degradation of STAT4, a protein that controls gene expression and the differentiation/development of key anti-viral immune cells, CD4+ T-cell.

• This leads to impaired natural immune defense in those with T2D and poor blood sugar control and - ultimately - increased morbidity and mortality.

Now, to the real point of this newsletter…

Dysfunctional Social Norms

The fact of the matter is the elephant in the room of healthcare - the foundational reason we are chronically sick and vulnerable - is poor metabolic health. And the root of this problem is our toxic food environment and dysfunctional social norms that give it oxygen.

The examples are almost innumerable: nutrient-depleted public school lunges, sugar-laden hospital food, and - of course - shameless public bribery with free donuts to get immunized.

Now, I’m the last person to complain about positive reinforcement for preventive healthcare in general. But, really? Not only are exercise like these shooting ourselves in the proverbial metabolic foot, but the fact we as a society are so habituated (dare I say, “addicted”) to sugar and junk food that we refuse to put two and two together and collectively rebuke such practices speaks to how far we’ve slipped.

Indulge me in a meme:

Solutions

But the fact of the matter is that here are a lot of tools in our metabolic arsenal to combat the problem of poor metabolic health and - specifically - high blood sugar contributing to increased respiratory virus susceptibility.

• Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction

• Ketogenic Diets

• Intermittent Fasting

• Simply targeting Foods with Low Glycemic Indices

• Allulose

• And so on…

But the solution can’t spread unless we talk about it… unless we combat the dysfunctional social norms be observing, verbalizing and starting the discussions that are needed to catalyze a metabolic health revolution because the fact is psychology is more infectious than a respiratory virus. So - my challange to you - be a positive mind virus.

For More on Dysfunctional Norms & Sugar: